MTR station’s defective columns: unacceptable errors or unfinished work?

A scandal involving defective concrete columns and unauthorised repairs at a railway station under construction has sparked debate, with some experts attributing the structural gaps to unfinished work and others condemning them as unacceptable errors that raise fears of a wider decline in Hong Kong’s building sector.

Authorities have identified about 30 defective columns at the MTR Corporation’s Tung Chung West station but say temporary supports mean there is no structural danger.

The South...